THE UNAUTHORISED BREAKFAST ITEM

3.5 stars really. Eight years after Battle Of Hastings, Pye's band comes back for a stronger effort. I am a huge Caravan fan (I go see them in concert anywhere they play in Benelux and up to Paris) and hold in highest esteem their first six albums . However , if they are a delight live, the studio records have been relatively tedious , but things are looking up. Breakfast is probably their finer effort since Blind Dog At St Dunstan but still a far cry from the fabulous six early (I include the New Symphonia album ) vinyls.

Pye is of course Caravan almost by himself and his songwriting is still the same (very pop with delightful melodies and witty lyrics ) and he accaparates most of the songs on this album. This may be why Caravan will not make better albums unless others are to make their influences better felt other than by their impeccable playing but to enlighten these tunes. This is what made their early albums great - the Sinclair cousins had a lot to say and got very involved in the writing. Most of the tunes on here are typical Caravan numbers but the more interesting times in them are the spaces where the instruments are doing the talking and then one can see those slots alloted were "glued on" at the end of a song or "stuck/fitted" in the middle of one. This was done by Dave sinclair's arrangements. This is not applicable to all numbers as Nowhere to Hide is excellent. Caravan is feeling much better than in the early 90's , but is still not back to their heydays.

Just one more thing: Caravan are known for the superb or humorous art cover sleeves and titles. The title comes from Richardson's near brush with New Jersey's police , as he had taken one more croissant for the road and the 250 lbs female cashier wanted to make him pay for that Unauthorized Breakfast Item and Geoff had no cash on him. He was saved fron life imprisonement in NJ's best cells by Pye's Visa card to pay for another full breakfast. Imagine the headlines : Caravan's Croissant Demise Scandal. The incident was immortalized in a song , album title and , if humorous , one of the the worse art sleeve work they made. Too bad.... This might have gotten them to a fourth star.